Yep. I've been to see Napoleon. I had reservations having seen the trailer (with the 'Battle of Austerlitz' scene). I seriously tried to leave those reservations at home. I read a positive review on a wargaming blog earlier, and I spoke to a movie maker at the weekend who had been to the premiere and liked it. With the possible exception of the storming of the fort at Toulon, the fight between Kenneth Du Beke and Joyce Temple-Savage in Benidorm* was as convincing a portrayal of Napoleonic warfare as the battle scenes in Napoleon. It was as if Donald Trump had scripted the battle scenes.
* naturally the redcoated Joyce won.
In the interests of balance, there were some good bits. I thought the theme of Boney's relationship with Josephine worked well as a unifying thread, artistically if not historically. Phoenix is a good actor and adds a certain Latin quality to the 'Frenchman' Buonaparte. And his accent worked well in contrast to the British actors in most of the French roles. I liked Miles Jupp as Emperor Francis (with an understated Mitteleuropa accent) and Paul Rhys as Talleyrand. Raspberry for Rupert Everett as Wellington though.
Sergei Bondarchuk's position is safe.
Swithering about going or not , ummhh.
ReplyDeleteAlan Tradgardland
Swithering. That's a good word. Everyone has their own views as to what they look for in a film. So if the battle scenes won't bother you it might be OK for you.
DeleteIs that Taylor Swift connected? I quite liked the first album?
DeleteBest Iain
When I saw the trailer I thought, well that doesn't look right, even for a Nappies novice such as myself. I've watched interviews with him about the film and he is a bit bullish about critics on the historical aspects of it, taking the line "were they there?". Well no and neither was he, but there is enough info in print and online to come up with pretty well informed decisions. Basically it appears to be a love story tied together with 6 battles. I might watch it if and when it comes to the small screen, but not otherwise.
ReplyDeleteClearly Scott's comment was a load of old billhooks.
DeleteOff to see it on the big screen on Sunday, haven't read any reviews, well bar yours!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
There are some good bits. Just not the battles. And a skirmish with cossacks on foot which French cuirassiers somehow got mixed up in. Uniforms look OK to me (admittedly I don't know the detail). All the Austrian infantry were grenadiers it seems, and all Wellington's men at Waterloo were British (but even Bondarchuk did that).
DeleteEarly reviews (from wargamers) have not been positive.
ReplyDeleteI did read one positive wargamer review.
DeleteMe too - and I will probably go and see it - if the rest of it is good, a few inaccuracies in the battle scenes won't worry me too much - I grew up watching The Battle of The Bulge etc with M60's as Shermans and the Germans in grey painted Leopards! And who else was at Waterloo except the Brits and the French - apart from a few Prussians who turned up at the end when it was all over, bar the shouting? (I am joking :))
DeleteThat’s the spirit!
DeleteSadly its not the look of the thing that’s the problem. It all looks pretty good uniform wise. Though the field guns look a bit ? in parts.
Chris
Hi Chris, it is a pity that it is not better. I would have thought that using a lot of CGI for the battles would be relatively easy and provide a great spectacle, especially as they could crib off Waterloo from the 70's.
ReplyDeleteStill I know little of movie making so I my thoughts would not impress Mr Scott, but likewise he seems to have little knowledge of Napoleonic warfare. 😂
You would think wouldn’t you, that with a budget of many millions, they could have made a little effort to get the battles right. They even went to the effort of having trenches dug for Waterloo. Yes trenches! Sacred blue! They had the Brits in them to start with (not the sunken road mind) and they showed French infantry digging a shallow trench shortly before they launched a mass attack on the British (and I do mean British, not Allies).
DeleteThe British left their trench to form squares in front of it when the French cavalry charged. Boney joined in one charge, slashing away with a sabre. Then when the Prussians arrived they came in from Wellington’s right (ie from the west)!
Don’t get me started on Austerlitz!
It’s almost like Scott tried to get it wrong.
Chris